I placed an order for scrubs -- five pairs of pants in black, gray, and navy, and 8 tops. I have hedgehogs & cactuses, owls, unicorns that day "caring is magical," sloths, haunted houses for Halloween (assuming we make it to Halloween), and three solid colors (black, purple, and orchid) with interesting necklines.
Scrubs can be washed in hot water and sanitized effectively, over and over and over again. They're also good optics for being high exposure in a health crisis while not actually in the healthcare industry.
I also bought two face shields to wear in addition to a mask... We will be provided shields but in the event that they are backordered at industrial scale I wanted to make sure I had a couple.
My doctor recommended a water bottle with a retractable straw to decrease exposure while hydrating. Also, a hamper with a lid to put my dirty scrubs in when I come home and shower downstairs before coming up. it's recommended to wear by hair up, like in a bun, to decrease the possibility that droplets in my hair could get in my face at some point. There's much pint in coloring my hair if I have to wash it daily, so I ordered a color-depositing conditioner... In Rose Gold for Brown Hair. We'll see what that looks like.
I've got to have some kind of back to school fun between the scrubs and the rosy hair (even if it's in a bun)... Otherwise this all sounds terrifying and depressing.
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Oh wow, Jess. I've just come off a zoom with another blogger teacher friend (in St Louis) who noted that teachers are now considered front-line workers. I so wish you weren't going through this. Sending love. Kia kaha.
ReplyDeleteIt is totally depressing and terrifying. Though the scrubs sound as fun as possible given the situation and it really does make a point (teaching should not be a high-risk/exposure job). There are cloth surgical bonnets to go over hair that a lot of of my coworkers have started wearing to cover and give a little hint of personality under the masks (I've seen everything from Harry Potter themes to Star Wars). When I was working in ICU (pre-covid era) and wearing my own scrubs, in addition to doing them as a separate load, I also used to bleach the washer through a washer cleaning cycle after doing that load and wipe down knobs on the washer/dryer. But really, it's awful that this is even a discussion that needs to happen at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry. I really hope your school and district are going to do the work to keep you and your fellow teachers safe through all of this.
That does sound different. Hope you are coping ok. Are you going back to classes as usual then? We are supposed to, but a lot can change in a few weeks so I’m not mentally committing to any particular scenario, just focusing on the few things I plan to do regardless.
ReplyDeleteI think I could wear scrubs....I am not a terribly glamorous dresser anyway. Not sure to what extent laundry carries the virus though.
My union had a phone town hall meeting today which was helpful: gave people a chance to ask and answer questions.
Take care!
I hadn't thought this far ahead to my own classroom, but the time is drawing near. How odd this would all look to the Lori and Jess of July 2019.
ReplyDeleteSigh...
Scrubs are a good idea. Thanks for that.
Thank you for the ideas about getting some face shields and a water bottle with a retractable straw. I already wore black scrub pants every day while teaching last year just because that's what I had leftover from my clinical rotations in grad school. I doubt I will ever work in anything else, regardless of the setting. Scrubs are the best.
ReplyDeleteThat said, my new district just announced their plan to return to campus at the end of this month.
I'm scared to go back to school.
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ReplyDeleteI didn't even know there were such things as retractable straws...! And I wish you didn't have reason to know. :( But I'm glad you are having SOME fun with this...! Thinking of you & all the other teachers I know!
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